😬 To feel awkward 😨 To shrink back 🙈 Embarrassing thing 😣 Shrinking gesture

cringe

1 5.9

A small movement when you pull back from fear or embarrassment

noun
/krɪndʒ/

: encogimiento

They are either profoundly apologetic (identifiable by a slight cringe and eye aversion when they say, carefully, "Oh, no thanks...

We must detect such cases of cringing, submission and giving way on the basis of why the deference is being paid.

Examples

I immediately turned, suppressing a cringe, and said out loud.

Blog text (6)
After hearing the embarrassing joke, she couldn't help but cringe at the awkwardness.
Whale fights a cringe with a polite smile.

Fiction book (1998)
He felt a deep cringe when he realized he had mispronounced her name in front of everyone.
The thought of making that mistake again filled him with a sense of cringe that he couldn't shake off.

Antonyms

boldness

18 3.2

Willingness to take risks and face danger

assertiveness

7 4.6

The quality of being confident and direct when saying what you think or want

Compounds

cringe-worthy

Informal

4 7.3

Making you feel embarrassed or awkward

cringe culture

Literature

8.6

A social habit of criticizing or making fun of people for things seen as embarrassing, making others avoid sharing

How Withdrawn

crouch

13 4.2

cringe

1 5.9

to recoil

25 4.9

flinch

3 4.8

to twitch

79 2.8

Surface Forms

cringe singular

cringes plural

Etymology

Cringe comes from the old English cringan, meaning 'to bend' or 'give way', so a cringe can be the small movement or position when someone visibly shrinks back in fear or shame.